Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reflected on his recent dinner with President-elect Trump. interview He told the Wall Street Journal that he was “impressed” by the former president.
“I had a chance to have a long and really interesting dinner with him about two weeks ago,” Gates told WSJ Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker.
Gates said discussions at the dinner, which also included incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, focused on innovation in global health. President Trump reportedly got “pretty excited” when discussing the possibility of developing a cure for HIV and efforts to eradicate polio.
“We accelerated vaccine innovation during the coronavirus era,” Gates said, according to the WSJ. “So I asked him if we could do something similar here, and I think we were both pretty excited.”
Gates' foundationthe Bill & Melina Gates Foundation, specifically targets both issues.
Regarding the possibility of polio eradication, Gates said, “He is interested in hearing what can be done to maximize the chances that that incredible milestone will be achieved over the next four years.'' '' he said.
“He seemed energized and excited to help drive innovation,” Gates said of their nearly three-hour dinner conversation. “I was frankly impressed by how much interest he showed in the issues I raised.”
The meeting took place shortly after Trump posted on X that Gates had requested to join him at the Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. The billionaire and former president have met several times in the past, even though Gates has occasionally criticized the president-elect.
Gates is one of several billionaires who have taken steps to reach out to Trump following his election victory. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month. Amazon donated $1 million to the president-elect's inaugural fund, as did OpenAI's Sam Altman and several other major companies, including Ford, Google, and Meta.
